What Once Was One (Book 2)

by Marc Johnson

  I reached into my purse for a healing potion, but her flailing arms smacked it away. The vial crashed, the glass shattering on the floor. I grabbed her arms, trying to still her, but when I touched her skin, the magic inside of her blossomed and she screeched in pain.

  I was killing her.

  I let Krystal go and closed my eyes so I could concentrate on my magic, and not see how much agony she was in. I tried to block out her tormented moans and conjure white mana. Whenever my magic brushed up against her, the magic inside of her consumed it before it could work.

  The bright light inside of her that I loved so much dimmed. Her wavy hair became brittle and her bones became visible under her shrunken flesh. She was dying and there was nothing I could do.

  A bright green light flared from her chest, permeating her clothes and skin. The magic from the necklace struck the curse with a clash of power. The two energies battled each other, the necklace’s magic hammering the curse back.

  Krystal’s body stilled, her arms and head becoming motionless. She didn’t even breathe. I bent over her mouth, trying to hear her. There was nothing.

  I clenched my fists and bit my lip. The magical fight within her must have been too much for her. She wasn’t a wizard. Her body wasn’t used to that sort of energy. Or the ancient magic of the nexus was too powerful.

  Krystal gasped for air and opened her eyes. The black lines in her face faded.

  I stared into her eyes and said, “Krystal!”

  Her glazed eyes didn’t move towards me. Instead, she closed them, and her chest heaved with deep breaths. I hesitantly placed my hand on her chest, thankful that the fabric blocked the touch of my skin. I was relieved to feel her heart beating normally. However, her skin was still pale and her hair brittle.

  The light from the necklace dimmed, but the two magics still assaulted each other. Krystal’s eyelids twitched as if she were having a nightmare. Every few breaths, her body shivered like she was caught in a snowstorm.

  I kneeled next to the bed and studied her. One by one, I tried all the healing spells Stradus had taught me. Every time my magic touched her body, the nexus’s magic strengthened and beat back the necklace’s magic. Sweat ran down Krystal’s face and her breathing became erratic. When I stopped, her breathing eased.

  I stared at the broken potion on the floor. I didn’t have any more healing potions, as I had used them all in the Wastelands. I would have to concoct some more. For the moment, Krystal seemed to be out of immediate danger, but I would have to do more research to help her. I placed a blanket over her and ran out of the room to find help.

  I burst back into the room with three healers. Two of them examined Krystal. I told the head healer, Shanna, what had happened to the princess, and that they shouldn’t remove the necklace.

  “Thank you, Wizard Hellsfire,” Shanna said. “That will be all.”

  “But—”

  She put her hand up. “You have done more than enough here. We will see to the princess’s condition.”

  I slumped my shoulders. “Just let me know if she gets better.”

  Shanna turned and left.

  “What’s going on here?” King Furlong asked, barging into the room. His eyes filled with worry when they saw the princess lying on the bed. His gaze turned on me and his eyes filled with anger. “What did you do, Hellsfire?”

  “Please, Your Majesty,” one of the healers said.

  “Outside,” the king said to me through gritted teeth.

  We went into the empty hall. I stood erect, meeting the king’s angry eyes, as I told him what happened to his daughter and how she almost died when I touched her, because of the nexus’s magic.

  King Furlong couldn’t keep the malice out of his voice. He moved until he was inches from my face and said, “You almost killed my beloved daughter and the only heir to Alexandria! How could you?”

  “I-I-I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I didn’t mean to hurt her.” I shook my head, remembering Renak’s parting words. I realized the cause of the curse. It was that dog, Premier! “Renak said—”

  “I don’t care what he said! You should have known. You almost killed her because of your magic. How could you be so careless?” King Furlong scowled at me. “Wizards! You’re so arrogant. You only do what’s good for you, and you never realize that the decisions you make affect countless people. We’re nothing but tools to you and your kind! You may have the powers of the gods, but you are not gods, Hellsfire!”

  He made a visible effort to calm himself and put his royal mask into place. “I know of the...indiscretions between you and my daughter. I’ve let Krystal have her fun, but it ends now. You weren’t the first, and you certainly won’t be the last. Do not think you were ever more than that!”

  I stared at the king. I hadn’t realized that Krystal had others before me. I didn’t know much about her past. As much time as we spent together, I’d answered all of her questions when she wanted to know about my life, but whenever I asked about hers, she changed the subject or took my mind off it by other means.

  Why hadn’t she let me know about her past? Was I just a brief fling to her? How did she feel about me? Her father had reminded me that she was a princess, and that even with all the power at my fingertips, I was only a poor farm boy. Could we ever be together, especially after all this?

  The king sighed and rubbed his wrinkled forehead. “Perhaps this is for the best. Hellsfire, you’ve saved my kingdom and my life. For that, I am grateful.” His face hardened and his voice deepened. “But stay away from my daughter or I will have you hanged. If my daughter dies, there will be no amount of magic that can save you.”

  I lifted my tired head to look at him. I couldn’t think of anything to say. I nodded in agreement. The king went back to my room and his daughter.

  I followed the king back inside. I stood near the door as he talked to Shanna. While the healer didn’t acknowledge me, she spoke in a voice loud enough that I could hear.

  “She’s resting, Your Majesty,” she said. “She’s calmed down for now and we’ve given her some poppy to help her sleep. We’re still not sure of the nature of her problem or how deep it runs, but we’ll do all we can.”

  “Thank you,” the king said. He glanced at me from the corner of his eye, and I took that as a signal to leave.

  ----

  The princess didn’t wake from her coma, and I never saw her during the days that followed. Despite the fact that I needed to get down to Southern Shala and warn the council, I waited for her to wake. I wasn’t leaving until I knew she was better. I would have understood if my friends wanted to leave, but they waited for me. I ached to go into Southern Shala, but only to find Premier and burn him in total, agonizing pain for what he had done to Krystal.

  Despite the king’s warning, I yearned to get a better look at Krystal. I had to understand the magic and see if there was anything I could do about it. If Premier had altered Renak’s spell into a curse, perhaps it could be changed back. However, Shanna or one of the other healers always barred me when I tried to sneak in at night. I pleaded with them to let me see her, even if it was just for a moment, because they could never understand magic the way I could. My words fell on deaf ears.

  Frustrated, I went to the library to try to find something that would help. I received icy glares from the other castle residents using the library. When I took a break and went to the kitchens for some food, everyone I passed gave me the same withering look. I ate my meal alone, then went back to the library.

  I couldn’t study because of all the seething people around me. I took what books I thought would be useful and went to the one place people would never venture into—Premier’s tower.

  Book after book was useless. I had been afraid of that, since Alexandria, with their ban on wizards, kept all their books about magic in their hidden archive. There were a handful of spells I found in my own spell book, but I needed to test them on the princess. After another day of frustration, I gave up searching through the books
and walked down to the marketplace to get my mind off of things.

  When I reached the honey bread stall, the owner narrowed his eyes at me and crossed his arms.

  I opened my mouth to tell him what I wanted, but the man said, “No honey bread.”

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “We’re all out,” his wife said, leaving another customer and coming up beside her husband.

  I peered in between them at the bread. The sweet aroma tickled my nose.

  “It’s right there,” I said, pointing.

  “Those are bad batches,” she said. “We were just about to get rid of them.”

  “That’s all right. I’ll buy one anyway.”

  “No!” the man said. “We don’t serve those who hurt our princess. Now leave, wizard.”

  I sighed and gave up. “Fine.”

  I walked away. The surrounding people pierced me with cold stares. I put my hood up in hopes that I wouldn’t be recognized by more than a few, but it was too late.

  The crowd jostled around me until they became a wall. I tried to squeeze through them, but I had to push to get them out of my way. They began to shout obscenities. I ignored them and bored through the ever-growing mob.

  The crowd fought back and shoved me. I became a feather in a storm. My first instinct was to use my powers, but I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I also didn’t want to give them any more excuse to hate me and my magic. A small rock struck my back, and then a hail of stones were showered upon me. They battered my body, but my thick wizard’s robes took most of the impact. I shoved people aside. I had to get out of here and back to the castle before things got worse.

  A fist-sized rock struck me in the forehead. I staggered, and stumbled to my knees. Bigger rocks were thrown. I kept my head down, trying not to unleash my angry fire. I understood how Alexandria’s people felt. It was my fault their princess was close to death. There was nothing they could do about Premier, but there was something they could do about me.

  I cried out when a heavy rock hit my spine. I couldn’t take much more, and the city guard didn’t make a move to help.

  “Enough!” I yelled.

  A backlash of wind exploded from me. People in a fifty-foot radius were shoved back, knocking into each other. The rocks they had thrown flew backwards into the crowd, striking those that weren’t quick enough to duck. Rocks shattered against the market’s wooden stalls.

  I rose and pulled back my hood. I wiped the blood from the bump on my head as I surveyed the frightened and injured people. I didn’t want to hurt anybody, but they’d left me no choice. Didn’t they understand how much pain I was in? It was my fault the princess almost died. Not theirs. Mine!

  I walked over the fallen mob, leaving the wounded people, and headed back to the castle.

  For the next week, I holed up in Premier’s tower so I wouldn’t be bothered or threatened by anyone. I only left to return books and borrow new ones, and to retrieve meals.

  My frustration mounted. I needed magical books like those in Stradus’s library, but I couldn’t go back there now. It would take too long to travel to the mountain without Cynder. Since the barrier was down, I could go to the wizards’ school in Southern Shala or see the council. That would take far longer, but they should have any information that there was. But I wasn’t going anywhere without seeing Krystal first.

  While I was thankful that Prastian, Jastillian, Demay, and Behast visited me and gave me news, they were nervous to come into Premier’s former tower, and they were anxious to leave for Southern Shala. Their patience wouldn’t last forever.

  There was one other who delivered news about Krystal—Ardimus. “How is she?” I asked him. I rose from the piles of books I had scattered on the floor. Everything Premier had used had been removed from the tower, so I had no furniture.

  Ardimus looked as exhausted as I was, since he was always with Krystal. “She lives,” he said, “but she won’t come out of her coma. During the night, her condition worsens. She screams, tossing and turning uncontrollably. The potions the healers brew have little effect. Only that necklace you gave her does. It flares, and she’s calm again. Until she’s at it a few hours later. Her outbreaks are fewer and less intense as time passes.”

  “I wish there was something I could do. It’s all my fault. Journeying into the Wastelands was one thing, but bringing down the Great Barrier was another. If I hadn’t gone into the nexus in the first place, none of this would have happened.”

  Ardimus stepped around one of the piles of books. “You did what you had to do to at the time to save Jastillian and Demay. The princess would understand that.”

  I shrugged. Were their lives worth more than Krystal’s? “Ardimus, you know the princess better than I. Do you think me being here is...wise?”

  “I heard what happened in the marketplace. It’s wise that you’ve not left the castle grounds since then.”

  I nodded. “So Prastian’s told me. He also told me that being in the castle isn’t helping matters. Nobles are trying to get me banished, but King Furlong won’t make a decision until Krystal wakes up...if she ever does.”

  I sighed and scratched my face. “I don’t know what to do, Ardimus. I feel like I’ve been nothing but a blight to Krystal and her people. Maybe they’re right. Maybe I should go and leave her in peace. What do you think?”

  Ardimus stared at me in silence while he considered this. “I think you need to talk to the princess before you do anything. I’ve known her highness since she was a little girl, and this is the happiest I’ve seen her in a long time. If you left without saying goodbye, she’d be devastated.”

  “But do you think we could ever be together?”

  “This, I do not know. I have lived here and served Alexandria for many years, but I am not from this land. Her people are filled with pride, like those of most great cities. They love their princess and king more than in most countries I’ve seen. That’s a good sign, but if someone harms or threatens the royal family, the people will be out for blood.”

  Ardimus allowed himself a small smile. “I know you mean no harm to this city, but I don’t know if her people will ever accept you. You are a wizard.” He paused. “Maybe if Premier had never come into our lives, or if harm had not befallen the princess, they would have accepted you, but now...”

  I stared at one of the open books, but never saw past the words. An idea struck me. I glanced back up at Ardimus and asked, “Do you know where Alexandria’s vault is? The one that’s guarded magic over the centuries? If I had access to it, I might be able to cure the princess.”

  “Sorry, I do not. As much as the princess trusts me, I’m not allowed there. However, Alexandria buries her secrets deep, Hellsfire. Very deep.”

  I wondered what he meant, but nodded when I finally realized it. “Thank you, Ardimus.”

  “Be careful, Hellsfire.”

  “I will.”

  CHAPTER 15

  I waited until the middle of the night when the keep was quiet before I enacted my hasty plan. There would be only one place the vault would be—in hidden tunnels underneath the city. When we had retaken Alexandria, we had used those tunnels to enter the keep. There were few alive who knew about them. Krystal had guided us through the maze of dead ends and traps. Now, I would be alone.

  I could have used Jastillian and Prastian with me. Their heightened senses would have been invaluable, but I couldn’t ask them. If I got caught, things would be disastrous for them and their cities. I had to do it alone.

  I returned the books to the library late at night, when only three people were there. I slowly put books back until I was the only one in the library. I went to the bookshelf we had used to enter and I stared at a small group of stones on the floor. They had to be pressed in a sequential order for the bookshelf to open and reveal the secret passageway. I closed my eyes, trying to remember Krystal’s motions all those months ago. I bent down and pressed the stones. Nothing happened.

  I continued to push down on the
six stones, but there were too many combinations. I wished I had paid attention to the princess’s movements, but I was too busy worrying about the Wasteland creatures and Premier that night.

  I mumbled a curse, worried that I would be stopped here. I tried again, and finally the bookshelf pushed outward and slid to the side. I glanced around to see if anyone had heard the noise. Seeing no one, I slipped into the hole behind it.

  I pushed another stone near the opening and the hole sealed up. I turned around and peered into the darkness. I took a deep breath, remembering that I was doing this for Krystal. I had to cure her.

  A small fireball ignited in my hand, illuminating the shadows enough so that I could see. I crept down the stone corridor, moving in silence and keeping my magic small so I wouldn’t be noticed.

  I retraced the way we had originally entered and bypassed spy holes in the walls. Eventually, the corridor slanted down under the keep, and the stale air became colder and heavier.

  At the bottom of the incline was a small wooden door. I knew that if I went through that door and continued, I would find my way to the catacombs under Alexandria. I also knew there were deadly traps waiting down there. Without Krystal, I could set off those traps and die. She had once said there were no traps in the keep.

  I paused at the door and glanced down the corridor to my right. I had no idea where it would lead. Was the vault somewhere under the keep, or in the city? Would they have kept the items where they could never be taken, or where they might be accessed in case of an emergency?

  I made my decision and turned right, knowing that it would take me longer to go and explore the catacombs underneath the city.